The Purpose Driven Campaign: The Candidates’ Forum with Rick Warren
McCain and Obama will make their first joint appearance of the general election campaign at an event moderated by Pastor Rick Warren at his 22,000-member Saddleback Church. John Green discusses what the candidates stand to gain from speaking with Warren and the challenges that Warren will face as he attempts to broaden evangelicals’ political agenda.
The Blaine Game: Controversy Over the Public Funding of Religion
A scholar discusses challenges in Florida to its so-called Blaine Amendments that restrict state aid to religious schools. More than two-thirds of states have similar constitutional provisions.
Stem Cell Research: At the Crossroads of Religion and Politics
An overview of the stem cell debate in America examines the science behind stem cell technology and looks at public opinion trends.
McCain’s Lead Among Evangelicals Smaller than Bush’s in ’04
Many white evangelicals remain undecided and Obama has made few inroads into this key constituency. But the Democratic candidate enjoys strong support among the religiously unaffiliated.
Belief that Obama is Muslim is Durable, Bipartisan – but Most Likely to Sway Democratic Votes
The New Yorker magazine’s controversial cover has renewed focus on persistent public misperceptions of Sen. Barack Obama’s faith.
The Faith Factor in the Media’s Primary Campaign Coverage
Despite attention to Obama’s former pastor, questions about McCain’s relationship with the conservative religious base, interest in Romney’s Mormon faith and Baptist preacher Huckabee’s strong showing, only 2% of campaign stories directly focused on religion; still that was more than the attention devoted to race and gender combined.
Organized Religion’s Role in the Military
In recent years, cadets, military officers and chaplains have asserted competing constitutional rights. Church-state scholar Robert W. Tuttle discusses the legal complications in an interview with Pew Forum.
Religion in America: Non-Dogmatic, Diverse and Politically Relevant
The second major report on the U.S. religious landscape finds that most Americans do not believe their religion is the only way to salvation. This openness to other religious viewpoints is in line with the nation’s great diversity of affiliation, belief and practice as documented in a survey of more than 35,000 Americans.
Assessing a More Prominent ‘Religious Left’
Questions and answers about the various groups that make up the religious left movement and the implications for the “religious right” in the coming elections.
American Evangelicalism: New Leaders, New Faces, New Issues
Scholar Michael Lindsay argues that the deep divisions in the movement are not between the political left and right, or the young and old, but between “cosmopolitan” and “populist” evangelicals.
